From: ephemeral@ephemeralfic.org
Date: 20 Nov 2004 20:47:36 -0000
Subject: Waking Up Warm (MSR, PG-13) by Cybill
Source: direct

Reply To: cybill@pacbell.net


TITLE: Waking Up Warm 
EMAIL: cybill@pacbell.net
AUTHOR: Cybill 
RATING: PG-13 
CLASSIFICATION: MSR 
SPOILERS: Sein Und Zeit, Season 7
KEYWORDS: Mulder/Scully Romance
DISCLAIMER: If I owned them, they'd never make it out 
of bed to investigate. 
SUMMARY: Mulder wakes up to find something surprising 
happening. A conversation and er ... stuff, ensues. 
WEBSITE: www.cybillxfilesopus.com
FEEDBACK: Makes the muse sooooooo happy! 

Beta Thanks: To Sallie for a super speedy beta and 
Cratkinson for a second look-see! You girls are 
amazing. Oh, and Cratz, thanks for naming this one. 

This is in answer to a BTT challenge posted by our 
lovely list mommy Char. I'm claiming poetic license 
for changing the challenge element just a touch. Why? 
Well, because Sallie said I could! The challenge 
element was to use the first sentence you see here, 
and a variation of the last sentence of the story. 
Hope I did them justice. 


XXX
If the fit had been any tighter he would have lost 
consciousness; thank God he didn't. What? Wait a 
minute ... where had that thought come from? He 
opened his eyes and blinked out at the dark room. A 
shadowy form was moving over him. Scully? He was more 
confused now than he had been when Scully had told 
him the truth of his mother's death, earlier that 
evening. 

Mulder brought his hands up to his eyes and wiped 
away the sleep that clung to them. He was bone tired, 
emotionally spent. Scully was here to comfort him and 
she wouldn't leave. She was so worried about him; she 
had even gone so far as to follow him into his 
bedroom.

Mulder had slipped into the bathroom, thinking that 
she would take the hint and leave. Not a chance.  She 
had just rifled through his drawers, pulled out a 
pair of boxers and a T-shirt, and had them on before 
he returned from a much needed shower. He had been 
surprised at first to find her sitting on the edge of 
his bed. 

"I don't want you to be alone," she had said 
solemnly. Mulder had nodded and clicked off the 
light. He'd slowly climbed into bed next to her. She 
had turned over and with a slight hesitation, put her 
head on his shoulder and her arm around his chest, 
holding him close. He cried silently until sleep took 
him. 

Now here he was, suddenly awake. Scully's warm body 
was hovering over his, her hands moving across his 
skin, her lips touching down to nip, kiss, or taste 
each new piece of skin she revealed.  

XXX
His presence surrounds me--warm ... so warm. I slide 
my hands over his stomach, lifting his shirt and 
marking his chest with a trail of wet kisses that 
lead to his mouth. His mouth is like velvet, soft and 
delicious as a perfectly made tiramisu. I take his 
lips into my mouth and nibble the tender skin there. 
He groans into the heat of my kiss. It's enchanting, 
it's- oh ... heavenly. He breaks off the kiss and 
looks deep into my eyes. I expect him to whisper 
sweet nothings, a vow of everlasting love....

"Scully, what are you doing?" His words break into my 
subconscious and I finally open my eyes, really open 
them. Oh my God!

"Mulder?" I breathe against his lips only a scant two 
inches from my own. I'm confused, unsure of where I 
am and why I'm in such close proximity to my partner. 
His hands are reflexively griping my naked waist and 
I can taste his kiss on my lips. 

"Scully, are you awake?" 

Oh, no.  

"Um, yeah," I say stupidly. I am now.  He doesn't 
remove his hands. I'm spread atop him half naked, the 
boxers I borrowed from him earlier this evening long 
gone. Where they went, I haven't the slightest idea.  

"You ... uh ... were kissing me."  

I try to remove myself from him but he grips me 
tightly, staying any movement. 

"Mulder," I say with a hint of desperation. He must 
know that this is killing me. I feel as though I'll 
die of utter embarrassment if I don't remove myself 
from him immediately, maintaining at least a speck of 
pride.  

"Why?"

"Mulder, I was dreaming. I'm sorry. I wasn't in 
control of what I was doing. It won't happen again." 
I shake my head, feeling tears welling up in my eyes. 
I hold my breath in the hopes that I can keep them 
from falling and once again try to relieve myself of 
the vice grip he has on my body. 

"No, Scully. Not this time." 

"What are you talking about?" I say, annoyed that I 
still can't remove myself from this warm cocoon 
disguised as my partner's arms and legs.  

"No running. We always run away from this."

"This? What *this*?" I say with a hint of irritation. 

"You. Me. Us," he replies as if it's the only answer. 

"Mulder, are you awake?" He's not making any sense. 

"I'm more awake now than I have ever been." He 
removes his hands from my waist and for a second I 
feel as though my wings are no longer clipped. 
Freedom is close at hand. As soon as that thought is 
formed it's replaced by the feeling of his lips 
bearing down hard on mine, fierce and needy. It takes 
me by surprise and I moan, inadvertently deepening 
the kiss. 

I grudgingly pull my mouth from his and look at him, 
shocked. 

"You're all I have left now. I don't want to waste a 
minute of my time with you." His sentiment reaches 
deep into my soul, but it's not the truth. I 
understand now. Tonight I had to tell my partner that 
his mother died, his last living family member, gone. 
He's finding solace in me. It can't be this way 
though, not like this. 

"Mulder, you don't know what you're saying. You're 
confusing your grief over losing your mother with 
affection for me." 

He shakes his head.

"Yes, Mulder, and it's my fault. Here I was trying to 
comfort you, and I ended up taking advantage. 
Granted, I didn't realize what I was doing...."

"Scully, stop." 

"Mulder...," I warn. 

"Scully, I would never substitute my grief with my 
love for you. What happened here was what you would 
call a blessing. A beautifully wrapped gift, received 
on one of the worst days of my life." 

"I don't understand." I feel like a complete idiot. 
Here he is pouring out his soul to me and I can't 
follow what he's saying. 

"You, Scully. Your dream manifesting itself in 
reality proves to me what you're afraid to say out 
loud." He grins. "You love me." 

I gasp and my mouth goes completely dry. He has no 
idea what he's saying.

"Are you going to look me in the eye and deny it?" 

"Mulllderr...," I warn. "We can't be doing this, nor 
having this conversation." I gesture with my arms and 
again try to pull away. His reflexes are lightening 
fast and keep me stationary. I groan in reply. 

"You're afraid of it, aren't you?" he says with a 
hint of sadness.

I whip my gaze back to his.  "I'm not afraid. I just 
don't think this is the time or the place to be 
having this particular conversation." I blow out an 
exasperated breath of air. "Mulder, your mother just 
passed away. You're vulnerable, confused, and 
exhausted. Now why would I believe that anything 
that's said here is your true feelings?" 

"Scully, have I ever lied to you before?" 

I think about it for a moment and shake my head, a 
bit ashamed. He makes a good point.

"Scully, I love you, and I'm not saying that because 
I lost my family tonight. "I'm telling you that 
because I don't want to spend another moment without 
you knowing what you mean to me."

I lose my battle with my tears and they fall like 
rain onto Mulder's cheeks. He brings me down to his 
chest and holds me close.  

"God, Mulder, I love you." He squeezes me tighter. 

"Can we try this again?" He nudges my ear with his 
nose and as I lift my head, brings his hand behind 
the back of my neck. I nod happily. 

This kiss is unlike any other. It speaks of sorrow, 
but also of love, and the promise of future 
happiness. 

XXX
After pleasure had been given and received and their 
bodies cooled, he kissed her temple and she snuggled 
closer to him. Scully started to drift off to sleep 
and he held her tightly to him, enjoying the liberty 
of just being able to hold her. Though his body ached 
with fatigue, he felt renewed, his mind awhirl with 
thoughts and plans.   

Mulder knew they would have problems, unforeseen 
forces working against this new union between them. 
It was the story of their lives, he thought. Always 
the same, never altered, never different ... and 
acceptance came grudgingly but at least they'd try to 
accept what they could not change, for now.